Why use Skyscale if I have the Raptor and Springer?

[SamuelW.2685]

Alternate Title would've been "Sell me on Skyscale" so think of this post like that if you don't like the original title 

I've been farming gold in Drizzlewood, I don't have a Skyscale, but I've found I can mostly keep pace with other players using Raptor and Springer, sometimes I miss a boss mob after the main south meta with the chests, but that's less because I'm slow, and more because I don't know where they are at. Normally I can keep pace, if there's a cliff, I use the Springer, then Raptor, I keep pace with the Skyscales most of the time, so lemme ask, what's the point of the Skyscale? 
 

The amount of time you need to put into getting it seems to sum up to "forever and a day" with tons of gold on top of all that time too, so that's a turn off as well

I'll get the first point out of the way, "cause it's a dragon", yes, dragons are cool, but that's not really super valid now is it? I'm more of a Griffon dude anyway, the whole reason I'm farming gold in Drizzlewood is too get a Griffon, but this is a Skyscale Vs. Terrestrial Mounts discussion, I've already made up my mind on getting the Griffon ASAP and you'd need to level Heaven and Earth to stop me.

Also BONUS QUESTION, am I even farming gold right in Drizzlewood? I've just been selling crafting mats I get from the metas and pledging to a legion, I sold stuff for about a hour yesterday and made 35 gold before the stuff I didn't insta sell, so its probs closer to 40 gold, so  am I doing Drizzlewood right? 

[Tukaram.8256]

So far I can get anywhere I need to go using the raptor & bunny.  I cannot convince you to get a skyscale because I do not see me ever bothering to get one either. 😎

 

[MonsterTeddy.6135]

Skyscales fall into QoL territory tbh. It's not strictly needed for most open world content outside of Dragonfall (i think?), but it's neat for convenience. Skyscales are kinda like... a raptor, springer with flying rolled into one. It lets you do what a raptor and springer can do (to an extent) without needing to switch mounts. Being able to hover in the air is a nice plus too since it helps with repositioning midair. If you missed your mark when jumping with springer, you'll have to land on the ground (or anywhere with a foothold) and retry it, for example. Griffon wouldn't be comparable since they both fulfill different niches.

 

TLDR: Skyscale not essential, just big mount QoL

 

 

[Freya.9075]

You don’t need the skyscale, but it’s nice to have. If you gotta afk, just fly up and stay there. I use it quite a lot in maps like tangled depths where the layers intertwine. It’s easier to get up with skyscale there. All mounts got their use in different ways. 

[sokeenoppa.5384]

You can always use skyscale like i do 😅

I use it mostly when i have to afk, mobs cant reach you up there xD

[Vayne.8563]

turning to jump another direction on the springer is far less precise than the skyscale. Landing on a tiny point with a springer is much harder and redoing stuff takes more time. I find the springer harder to use in quite a few circumstances.  It's not a huge difference, but I prefer using the skyscale to the springer the vast majority of the time.

[Donari.5237]

The skyscale is also faster to get off the ground, which can matter if you're rapidly evading mobs, for example in Echovald's tunnels I can flap up in a hurry to go over mobs where the springer comes down pretty close to where it jumped.  Plus you can mount it mid-air to halt a plummet or to chain together moves between updrafts when you combine in the dismount skill.  I still use springer for short hops but if I'm doing a lot of ascending, skyscale really helps.

I'm not going to try to sell you on it, though.  I'm listing things that make it very useful for me which may not matter to you.  Skyscale is not very nimble, its wall cling is great when you want it and annoying when you juuuust clipped a skinny tree or post.  Its flapping can cause motion sickness if you hover too close over people's heads.  But hoo boy is it nice to have time to look around mid air and decide where to go.

[Dayra.7405]

With full mastery a skyscale can go up twice as high as the springer, before it needs a ground to sit on. (To refill the climb bar). So the skyscale can go up walls, the springer has no way to do. I don't know how many of these exist, and likely you can go around on a longer way with other mounts.

you can rest in the air.

you don’t need to switch mounts which may become difficult in the presence of mobs.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Dayra.7405

[vares.8457]

Once you have skyscale, you won’t be using springer anymore. 

[Xelqypla.6817]

Just do a little bit of Skyscale at a time.

Heck, use the first few scavenger hunts across Dragonfall as your way of getting used to Griffon flight. You gotta get used to Griffon anyway and this is a productive way to do it. Suddenly, you have a portion of Skyscale done.

[Friday.7864]

Skyscale can cover a decent horizontal distance without losing much, if any, altitude. Even griffon can't go as far, much less raptor.

It can also climb much higher cliffs/walls than springer - you have wall climb mastery and you can recharge with bond of vigor.

It's the most versatile and most useful mount.
Also the safest as you can afk anywhere in the air or auto run into a wall and stick to it. 
No need to swap mounts constantly either, if something attacks you while mount swapping you have to kill that mob first.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Not sure why you claim a Skyscale costs so much Gold; it's only around 40 Gold (unless you purchase everything possible from the Trading Post instead of actually doing content).  Griffon, of course, costs 250 Gold. 

[Mungrul.9358]

I like my Skyscale, but from a game design point of view, I think it was a mistake.

It almost completely invalidates Springer, and I feels its limitations should have been amplified to keep Springer relevant.

 

I much prefer flying with my Griffon when I've got room for a decent take off, but even there, sometimes it's just easier to go with the Skyscale.

 

It must have been hard to develop, because how do you sell the power fantasy of a dragon mount while keeping it balanced compared to the existing ones, which were all very well balanced?

All had a very specific niche they filled, and while it's the best, fastest flier in the game, the Griffon requires skill to fly well, so it didn't end up invalidating other mounts.

 

Skyscale has a very low, almost non-existent skill ceiling, can climb in to the air from a standing start, has a low drop-off during flight and that's more than enough to find your next ledge so you can recover your stamina and start flying again.

They could have slowed down stamina regen when on a flat surface, but that would have felt like an artificial limitation.

 

But hey, at least it's not a turtle. That's just a solution looking for a problem.

[Silent.6137]

50 minutes ago, vares.8457 said:

Once you have skyscale, you won’t be using springer anymore. 

All mounts have their uses, including springers. For certain metas including DRMs, where the boss has an immediate breakbar, it is second to none with its hard CC.

 

Answering the OP, skyscale is the most versatile mount. Once you have it, it'll become your main mount. Aside from several of the points already mentioned by others, I find that it is the best at avoiding mobs to get to your destinations. Chances of being unseated on other mounts are very high compared to a skyscale. Either hover or land on the smallest landing point while looking for a safe spot to land. Need to get to a vista that's perched on an extremely narrow area? Skyscale's your answer. It's a better climber than a springer. A better flyer than a griffon. Can travel faster than any other mounts over steep slopes. But it sucks at swimming.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Silent.6137

[vanfrano.1325]

I have all mounts unlocked and I use the Skyscale pretty much exclusively. As someone else said I think adding this mount was a mistake.

Since I don't care about going fast with Beetle or Griffon, I take the convenience of the Skyscale over everything else.

[Pirogen.9561]

Mounts with "wings" make Heart of Thorns maps almost nice for me. Without wings its /ragequit.

[god fragment.5716]

The time investment to get a skyscale is returned within a month and then It's a time saver. The best compatison is to a helicopter. It "jumps" further than the raptor, higher and more accurate than the springer and it covers most distances as good as a grifron. Not that it makes other mounts obsolete, only more circumstantioal.

 

...and it's a major part of unlocking the Vision legendary trinket.

[Danikat.8537]

The skyscale doesn't cost a lot of gold. The unavoidable costs are 41g in total. There's also some steps where you can craft or buy items and one where you can either complete a series of world boss fights, jumping puzzles and other challenges or use an item which costs 6g to skip it. It does also require a lot of other currencies, particularly the Season 4 map currencies.

As for why you should get it my main use is when exploring. Yes it's possible to get to everywhere you need to be on the raptor and springer but especially when going up a cliff it can be hard to see where the next ledge is in order to get there. On the skyscale I can simply fly out and hover next to the cliff while I look around and deciding where to go, instead of leaping and hoping I find somewhere I'm able to land (or at least able to drop back where I was).

Similarly it's useful for getting an aerial view or for tricky manoeuvres in other places - you can get up into the air and then stay there to see where you're going and how best to get there. It may not be faster if you already know the route but if you don't it's much more useful for finding one.

There are also places the skyscale can reach which the springer can't, because there's long stretches with nowhere for the springer to land but the skyscale can cling to a wall to regain stamina then go up again. But that's no where you need to be, just places I like trying to get into.

But if your main activity is following a commander tag around the map to farm gold you probably don't need it, because Anet designed it to be optional, which means there will never be events and things which you can't access without a skyscale.

[Galmac.4680]

Springer is good for some CC, Skyscale for getting high (in means of upwards, to be clear here). Raptor for fast forwards on ground, jackal for fast forwards on uneven ground/ramps. Griffon is best for getting around when you start on a high place.

[Gorem.8104]

Synergetic Skyscale skin. 

[Reborn.1738]

8 hours ago, SamuelW.2685 said:

Sell me on Skyscale

 

It's a dragon mount.

 

That's all it took for me.

[Naxos.2503]

Skyscale is overall more accurate and manoeuverable than Springer. For the raptor, it depends. Proper boosting and using the Bond of Faith skill can get you pretty far. 

In general, the skyscale is a good generalistic mount, particularly useful in difficult terrain or with a lot of elevation.

You can also use the skyscale engage to get a fire field to combo your skills with, something you cant do with any other mounts.

[Gibson.4036]

Lots of good replies here. The one thing I didn’t see is how useful skyscale and griffon can be together.

Skyscale to get height, then the skill that gives you stamina to get even higher, bond of faith, mount griffon in midair, and zoooooom.

 

[Sarius.9285]

9 hours ago, SamuelW.2685 said:

forever and a day"

5 days if you did the return to achievements and like 50,-100 gold depending on if you skip the jps

[Infinity.2876]

32 minutes ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Lots of good replies here. The one thing I didn’t see is how useful skyscale and griffon can be together.

Skyscale to get height, then the skill that gives you stamina to get even higher, bond of faith, mount griffon in midair, and zoooooom.

 

If you use bond of faith it actually loses 75%of your height because you can't mount or glide for a short duration. You can essentially get the same results on a springer. Hot maps are better if you have a skyscale because you don't risk falling off ledges. Skyscale also benefits of you want to get to a safe spot quickly in densely enemy populated areas. Also skyscale is required for the legendary amulet, vision.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Infinity.2876